How safe is your school data?
Wed 30 September, 2020
Data is a valuable resource, potentially the most valuable resource in today’s connected and internet-focused society. Which is exactly why protecting your data is so important.
As a school, you will hold an enormous amount of data, on your teachers, your pupils, your buildings and your school resources. All of this data is vulnerable and highly valuable. So, what are you doing to protect it?
Do you know how your data is being protected and managed? Or do you just pass it on to an automated backup service to process and be forgotten about?
Do you know who to call should the worst happen? Should you not be able to access your key data or should it end up in the wrong hands?
In this blog, we look at some of the data storage and management tools we use to ensure the schools we work with are safe.
Not all cloud storage was created equal!
Most schools have now moved to using cloud storage, to ensure their data is held off-site in some form. There are huge benefits to using cloud storage for school data. Firstly, using the cloud reduces the need for large servers and data storage on site. It also removes the need for labour-intensive tape backup methods which are outdated and unreliable.
However, many cheap cloud storage solutions are unsafe and unreliable. As a school, using a cloud storage solution which is safe and secure is of the highest importance. Your data would be extremely valuable in the wrong hands and could lead to significant data protection issues. Many cloud storage providers don’t host your data in the UK but rather ship it across the world to places such as China and India where its security is even more questionable.
As a school you should only be using a high-quality encrypted cloud storage option which will give you full security and reliability, ensuring your sensitive data is protected. At Soft Egg, we encrypt your data using high-level AES encryption standards, before it even leaves your school.
As a school, you should also consider the appropriateness of your cloud storage choice for SIMS and FMS data. Many cloud storage offerings don’t provide backup services which are Capita approved for SIMS and FMS data. But as IT specialists providing IT services for schools all of our cloud storage services are Capita approved.
Setting up not Stressing out
Often schools will choose a self-service remote backup option without considering the work or expertise required in setting up or managing this type of cloud storage option. This can easily lead to school staff becoming stressed about the process of setting up these systems to run effectively. There can also be concerns over ensuring the data is correctly managed and secured during backup.
By choosing a cloud storage provider who also manages your storage you can be safe in the knowledge that your data is not only secure and protected, it is also being effectively maintained and managed throughout the whole process of backup. This is exactly why we provide complete setup and management as standard.
One of the key benefits of cloud storage options is that many provide automated backup meaning one less thing for you to worry about. At Soft Egg we have gone one step further by ensuring our automatic backups are run overnight or outside of school hours, so it doesn’t eat into your bandwidth or slow your internet connection.
Management and Monitoring
Some cloud storage providers, including self-service options we mentioned before, simply set up your cloud storage and backups and forget about it. The problem with this is that you won’t know if there is a problem until you find it. This could mean data is lost or corrupted without the chance for you to rescue it.
At Soft Egg we monitor your storage constantly to ensure it is safe and that everything is running exactly as it should. Should any problem arise we can deal with it immediately before it becomes a big problem and before you are even aware of it.
If you want to find out how we can protect your data get in touch today!